1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refill lead case that accommodates refill leads for a mechanical pencil.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a refill lead case for a mechanical pencil includes a thin and long box-shaped case body that accommodates a plurality of refill leads and a lid body that is attached to the case body in a slidable manner so that a case opening portion of the end portion of the case body in the length direction is opened and closed.
In the refill lead case with the above-described configuration, it is desirable to adjust the refill lead extraction amount when the refill leads are supplied to the mechanical pencil. For example, JP 2012-91431 A discloses a refill lead case capable of adjusting the amount of refill leads extracted from the case body in response to the slide position of the lid body. Further, the slide position of the lid body is also determined by a click feeling.
In this kind of refill lead case, the refill lead case is inverted so that a lead discharge hole is slightly directed downward when the refill leads are extracted from the case body.
At this time, many refill leads accommodated in the case body gather at the lead discharge hole due to the gravity, and hence the refill leads are jammed at the lead discharge hole. As a result, a phenomenon occurs in which the refill leads are not smoothly discharged.
JP 2012-91431A discloses a configuration in which a pillar portion is integrally formed with the lid body, opening and closing an opening portion of the case body in a slidable manner, in a direction perpendicular to the slide direction of the lid body and the refill lead accommodation position inside the case body is controlled by the pillar portion.
However, the pillar portion is formed so as to prevent the breakage of the refill leads in the case body due to the slide operation of the lid body, and hence an effect that contributes to the smooth refill lead discharge operation when the refill leads are extracted from the case body may not be expected.